718 



MISC. PUBLICATION 200, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



141. MISCANTHUS Anderss. 



Spikelets all alike, in pairs, unequally pedicellate along a slender 

 continuous rachis; glumes equal, membranaceous or somewhat 

 coriaceous; sterile lemma a little shorter than the glumes, hyaline; 

 fertile lemma hyaline, smaller than the sterile lemma, extending into 

 a delicate bent and flexuous awn; palea small and hyaline. Robust 

 perennials, with long flat blades and terminal panicles of aggregate 

 spreading slender racemes. Type species, Miscanthus japonicus 



Anderss. Name from Greek mischos, pedicel, 

 and anthos, flower, both spikelets of the pair 

 being pediceled. 



1. Miscanthus sinensis Anderss. Eulalia. 

 (Fig. 1604.) Culms robust in large bunches, 

 erect, 2 to 3 m tall; leaves numerous, mostly 

 basal, the blades flat, as much as 1 m long, 

 about 1 cm wide, tapering to a slender point, 

 the margin sharply serrate; panicle somewhat 

 fan-shaped, consisting of numerous silky aggre- 

 gate racemes, 10 to 20 cm long; spikelets with 

 a tuft of silky hairs at base surrounding them 

 and about as long as the glumes. 21 — 

 Cultivated for ornament and now growing wild 

 in some localities in the Eastern States (fig. 

 1605) ; native of eastern 

 Asia. There are three 

 varieties in cultivation 

 besides the usual form 

 described above: M. 

 sinensis var. varie- 

 gatus Beal, with blades 

 striped with white, M. 

 sinensis var. zebrinus 



Beal, with blades banded or zoned with white, 

 and M. sinensis var. gracillimus Hitchc, 

 with very narrow blades. 



Miscanthus nepalensis (Trin.) Hack. Pan- 

 icles yellowish brown; spikelets about one- 

 fourth as long as the hairs at their base. % — 

 Occasionally cultivated under the name of 

 Himalaya fairy grass. Nepal, India. 



142. SACCHARUM L. 



Spikelets in pairs, one sessile, the other 

 pedicellate, both perfect, awnless, arranged in 

 panicled racemes, the axis disarticulating 

 below the spikelets; glumes somewhat indu- 

 rate, sterile lemma similar but hyaline; fertile 

 lemma hyaline, sometimes wanting. Robust perennials of tropical 

 regions. Type species, Saccharum qfficinarum. Name from Latin 

 saccharum (saccharon), sugar, because of the sweet juice. 



1. Saccharum officinarum L. Sugarcane. (Fig. 1606.) Culms 

 3 to 5 m tall, 2 to 3 cm thick, solid, juicy, the lower internodes 



Figure 1603.— Distribution of 

 Imperata hookeri. 



Figure 1602.— Imperata hookeri 

 Plant, X ii; spikelet, X 5. (Tou- 

 rney 782, Ariz.) 



